Age and knife for a kids first knife

I handed my son a Gerber AR 3.0 3 inch blade razor sharp knife when he was 3. He was carving wood and hit his finger. Then skin parted but he didn't bleed. He gave me back the knife and didn't want to see it again til he was 5. He's 9 now and has prolly 30 knives (Bucks (110,501,505), Gerbers(EZ out, AR3.0, LTR, several others), Kabar, Western, Swiss(Two or three), Boker, and countless cheap China knives) and has not as much as slit his skin, like he did that first time.

He's had personal locked up firearms since 4. He has roughly 10 guns. Lets see, 3 22's, two 20 gauges, three four tens(one double barrell that was his great grandmothers), a .243 and a coulpe more I'm forgetting about. He shot his first deer at 6. He was shooting 55mph dove out of the sky by 7. He's 9 now, and I trust him more than I would most any of you with any of his 10 guns. He not only kills deer yearly, he lets the small bucks go to grow. Personally, I 'm not much of a hunter, but he loves it and I figure it keeps him out of the mall and off the puter.

So far, my only mistake was letting him get a little to far away from me that first time when he was 3. He could have bled. That said, he learned his lesson well.

It's all in the training.
 
My guy is going on nine and he's had a SAK since he was seven. He's allowed to use it under my watch. I think I'll be getting him a lockblade in the next year or so. I don't really think there is a proper age, as some kids mature more quickly.
 
I think a Lone Wolf Paul knife would be an excellent first folder personally. How old is very subjective. Some children are older in behavior than a lot of adults I know. If he is ready in his mind and you trust that he can handle it and learn I'd make a judgement based on input from other family members and past behavior on the boys (or girls)past.

STR
 
STR said:
I think a Lone Wolf Paul knife would be an excellent first folder personally. How old is very subjective. Some children are older in behavior than a lot of adults I know. If he is ready in his mind and you trust that he can handle it and learn I'd make a judgement based on input from other family members and past behavior on the boys (or girls)past.

STR
Click to expand...


STR, if it makes you feel any better, the boy at 9 wants to be a dentist. He thinks that might support his hunting habit........


Like you say, some people behave mature at an early age, and others never grow up. Glad to know he's taken after his momma. :D
 
STR, if it makes you feel any better, the boy at 9 wants to be a dentist.
Click to expand...

Boy now that concerns me for his mental health :D

On the bright side if he does that you'll have someone in the family to take care of ya when you are old and gray though!

STR
 
STR said:
Boy now that concerns me for his mental health :D

On the bright side if he does that you'll have someone in the family to take care of ya when you are old and gray though!

STR
Click to expand...


An acquaintance of his is an only child of older parents. His dad is 55 and the boy is 11. Obviously, the boy has the good fortune of being spoiled by a dad who hunts and has means to hunt most anywhere.

My son is envious, a bit, but won't say it. His 11 Yo buddy killed two black bears in Canada. I know the mental health and dentist thing, but then again, if inflicting pain on peoples decaying teeth and mouths is a means to an end to go to various areas of Canada and Wyoming, Montanna, Texas and Colorado, well, I'm sure pain will be inflicted and those teeth will be removed. :D

Kidding, all he knows is he wants to hunt the world, and we are trying to figure a way for him to do it. Who knows what medicine holds in the next 20 years, when he would come out.
 
Thanks for the advise everyone. I think what I will do is take the Byrd camping and if he is interested I will teach him with it. Later when he is ready it will be his.
 
alexanderkbaker said:
Thanks for the advise everyone. I think what I will do is take the Byrd camping and if he is interested I will teach him with it. Later when he is ready it will be his.
Click to expand...

With good supervision and training it's still dependent on the maturity and interest of your son. My son had his first locking SAK folder when he was about 6, followed by a mini Griptillian folder. He could only use ithem under my supervision (still does at age 9). I stepped up to a fixed blade a year or so later. I wanted to start with a cheap blade that he could learn to take care of, maintain and if he lost it, it wouldn't be a traumatic experience. The simple Mora fit the bill.

KidsFB2.jpg


KidsFB1.jpg


I bought a few extra Moras just in case:D I had a decent Kydex sheath made (cost more than the knife) that will also piggy-back his fire steel. Great combo!

This is specifically an outdoors cutting tool. No prying, digging or pounding. Plenty of whittling, carving, skinning, etc. The cheap Mora helps to demonstrate what blood will do if left on a carbon blade, how to sharpen, techniques for safe handling for various bushcraft projects, etc. This will help him learn to care for, sharpen and use more expensive knives down the road and eases my mind if he accidently loses it...it happens to the best of us.

Good luck, and remember supervision on techniques and safety.

ROCK6
 
I was about 8 when I got my first real knife. Dad gave me a 5 inch fixed blade and I carried that knife on my belt whenever we went to camp, or after school down in the valley and fields behind the house. It was given to me sharp, and I took great care of it. That knife taught me about responsibility for things I really cherished. However, the sheath got loose from being carried and 'loved to death', until the knife was lost due a bad keeper strap- another lesson in life learned the hard way.

I would advice getting a youngster a knife that both looks good and is replaceable.
 
I think I was 10 when I first had my SAK classic.

Seems to me a correct age and a good knife.
 
My boy got his first knife when he was a month old. No, he didn't use it then, and still doesn't. He's not even two yet...

My shopping requirements were similar to your's - fixed blade, guard, decent quality, durable, inexpensive. So I chose a Mora from Ragweed Forge, one of the youth models. The handle and sheath are unfinished, so they'll hopefully make an appropriate father-son activity some day.

The other knife I chose for him is the Opinel First Knife, or something like that. It's a standard Opinel folder with a rounded end.

Happy shopping!
-Bob
 
I had my first hunting knife (cheap one with a 3" blade and a fake stag plastic handle) at 6 years old, soon followed by a SAK at 7. My parents made sure that I knew what I could do and specially what I couldn't do with the knife.
I believe that if you learn to use tools at a young age, you will respect them more at later age. And maybe there would be much less sheeple if everybody learned to use knives at a young age.
 
First knife was a truelly hidiously bad Boy Scout pattern knife I got at around 10. My Dad had some real wisdom in this - you didn't get a knife until you could demonstrate that you could sharpen one -period.This wasn't a unfair test -his well worn Case slippie was pretty easy to get a edge onto.
Do still marvel at my original - what magic metal ( not gonna call this s#$t steel) did they come up with that somehow was both brutally difficult to sharpen and went dull really fast?Hmmm - heat treat?
 
My son is 5 and he received his first SAK My First Knife this past Christmas ( '07). I chose the version without the saw. He is allowed to carry and use it when supervised. So far so good. He is being very responsible. I take time to teach him how to use the knife safetly.
I agree it depends on the individual child and parent.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top